And Carlos Was Found
by CinnaKnowsBest
Summary: Carlos is not from the outside world. He was born in Desert Bluffs, programmed in the same way that all other citizens were. The programming slips up every once in a while, and in one of these instances, Carlos escapes Desert Bluffs and takes refuge in Night Vale. It's a very good thing Carlos isn't just your typical citizen. It's a very good thing he isn't even human.
1. And Carlos Was Found

It had only taken ten minutes to change Carlos' life. He had been standing in Kevin's studio, asking about the new equipment he'd just gotten in when it happened. Whatever had kept all the blood and viscera from his sight slipped, and in that moment Carlos saw what he was never meant to see.

He saw everything Desert Bluffs was, he saw Kevin smiling even as his smile was just a knife gash on his face, even as there was blood everywhere, even as Carlos saw everything that was imperfect about his home, all the horrible truths he'd been programmed to ignore, and re-educated to forget when he couldn't. And he _understood_.

Upon returning to his lab, he found that he could still see, that he still understood. And so did the rest of the scientists in his office. Together, they quietly packed up their equipment and that night, they set out. They had a destination. They were going to Night Vale.

They knew where it was-that was one of the things they understood.

Once they were just outside the town, Carlos had them stop and simply took scissors to all their lab coats, cutting away the bottom, where the orange triangle logo of Strexcorp was embroidered on each. He then had them drive through.

They couldn't. The scientists simply stopped moving as they touched the border, and a voice that, had it not been so angry, would be made of silk and honey reverberated through them.

They weren't sure if he had been in the cars with them, or simply in their minds.

"Leave now. We do not want _your _kind here!"

Carlos shook from the pure force of the fury in that voice, but spoke up. They wouldn't be deterred by fear.

"Wait-please. We...we are f-formally...requesting sanctuary. From...from that place. From...them."

The Voice seemed taken aback.

"You...have been found?"

"Yes. All of us. We left because we...didn't want to be lost any more. We didn't want to forget. Please let us in."

The Voice was silent for a few minutes, and then said "Alright. Please, enter."

They did, and their lives were never the same.

* * *

_Sooooo...Inhuman DB refugee Carlos, right? I'm not even sure what this is, I'm not even sure if I'm done with it yet. Tell me what you think, please!_


	2. Very Dangerous

_**This fic will have two completely unconnected stories- one in which Carlos is a robot, and one in which Carlos is a monster of my own creation. Because why the hell not.**_

* * *

Carlos spent his first morning in Night Vale plugged into the wall of his lab, running self-diagnostics. His systems seemed to be functioning properly, but he supposed time would have to tell.

This was how the robotic scientist slept, and he was an avid dreamer. He dreamt he was back home in Desert Bluffs, staring in horror at the viscera-streaked desk of Kevin's recording booth while Kevin smiled terribly at him (even as his smile was a razor-toothed knifegash in his face) and crooned "Oh, Carlos, my dear. Come back to me. Come home, and _smile_ with me, my dear, sweet Carlos."

When Carlos unplugged and checked the time, it was already one in the afternoon. He sighed and then went to find some coffee, and maybe some pain medication.

He found neither, and so was in a very unpleasant mood when he heard a knocking on the lab door. Carlos growled and wrenched the door open, almost ripping it off its hinges. The man who had been knocking took a step back, his violet eyes wide.

"Er, sorry to interrupt, but...um..."

Carlos sighed and put the door off to one side.

"Sorry about that. Sometimes I forget how strong I am."

Oh! Um, it's fine. You should probably get that put back on before a holiday comes around, though. Wouldn't like to see our newest residents dead in their workplace!"

"Right, right...So, what can I do for you?"

"Er, well, you and your scientists are supposed to be at City Hall. The rest of them are already there, but they're um...waiting for you."

"Oh, uh...okay. I'll be there in," Carlos checked the map tacked to his wall. "Around five minutes. They can start without me."

The man nodded and then began to fade. At first, Carlos was worried it was a problem with his visual systems, but nope, they were working perfectly. The man saw Carlos' confusion and smiled.

"Astral projection. I guess it's not as common in Desert Bluffs?"

Carlos started. They hadn't told anyone where they were from.

The man grinned again, and Carlos ran voice recognition software to see if perhaps this had been a neighbour of his in Desert Bluffs. Instead, the software matched it to the voice that had greeted him the night before, as they were driving into Night Vale.

Huh. What were the odds?

* * *

Carlos got there a minute early, on accound of speedbumps that sped your vehicle up. It struck Carlos as a very inefficient system, but perhaps there were less cars here? He severed his link with the car and got out.

Town Hall was one of those old Olympus style buildings that were common in the old Desert Bluffs, before Strex had come and upgraded everything. This seemed to calm his mechanical nerves, and he hurried in. The building greeted him with the soft humming of some sort of energy and directed him to a large chamber, where he could see his team standing around the podium.

When he got there, Jake handed him paper with words on it. He scanned it.

It was a small speech that explained why they were there. It lied, of course, but he supposed that the citizens wouldn't be as interested in them if they knew where they were from. Calos stood at the podium and delivered his speech, eyes roving. His eyes scanned and categorized all of the residents, but he didn't know any of them. He supposed he was going to have to introduce himself.

His eyes focused on one man in particular. This man was the one who had visited the lab using astral projection, and to Carlos' surprise and suspicion, the man's name appeared right beside his head, in the wrong color. Cecil Palmer, and in purple instead of yellow, like all of his other displays. He squinted and below the name, the words "Voice of Night Vale. Extremely Dangerous" popped up. Cecil certainly didn't looked dangerous. He would have to check his danger meter later.

He finished the speech, and looked at the stage directions that were on the speech. It told him to smile, so he did.

At the back of the room, a very dangerous man caught his breath.

* * *

_**What do you think?**_


End file.
